Tag Archive | Bad Dog Ranch eggs

Eggs

Jul20
I’m grateful for egg salad. This has no turmeric or curry in it, it’s just this yellow from the deep yolks of local eggs. I don’t make egg salad as often as I’d like to because I always feel I need to hard boil six or eight eggs at a time, and then eat way too much egg salad. I was craving egg salad this morning, so I boiled just two eggs, thinking that would be enough for a sandwich on the last homemade hotdog bun. It was too much for a closed sandwich, so I made two open-face sandwiches, one with cheddar cheese and one with those delicious B&B pickles–both with mayonnaise!

I used seven eggs today. I’m grateful for eggs, and especially for eggs from the Bad Dog Ranch, where the chickens are happy and healthy. I’m grateful I’ve had the chance to reach into the nest box and pull out a warm egg. I like to know where my food comes from whenever possible. I’m grateful for the rich orange yolks of home-laid happy-hen eggs.

The other five eggs went into the batter for a 7-Up cake, which is apparently a summer cultural thing in the South. I’ve never had one to my knowledge, but it was pretty easy to make, first whipping butter and sugar til super fluffy, adding eggs one at a time, then lime juice and zest, and vanilla extract. After that, alternately adding cake flour and 7-Up til the batter is super light. Baking was almost a disaster, either from oven temp, altitude, or too small a pan, but ultimately I got a usable cake out of it. I had decided to prep most of Boyz Lunch tonight, since it involved a lot of oven time, and I didn’t want to overheat the house tomorrow morning. The timing was perfect, baking the cake just as I was able to open a door, and by the time the pizza was in the oven it was dusk and a cool breeze blew through the house from both doors and three windows.

I pulled the pizza out when it was just done, not quite as crispy as I like it, so that I can add a little more marinara and mozzarella tomorrow and reheat it for lunch. It’s an experiment and may not work out too well, but whatever happens it will be ok. The guys aren’t too picky, and they’ll get cake at the end. I used the King Arthur ‘crispy cheesy pizza crust,’ which is so simple, so delicious; and Epicurious skillet fennel and sausage pizza recipe for topping. It’s a joy to explore the many uses of fennel with my beautiful crop in the garden. I’m grateful for having fun in the kitchen.